Page 248 of Tell Me Something True

Baby, tell me something true.

Shaking her head, she lifted her hands to cover his, needing that connection to him when she told him the truest thing she’d ever said.

The last secret she’d kept from him.

“Because I’m in love with you.”

His fingers trembled against her cheek, his mouth parting on a soft, amazed exhale. “Tabitha—”

“Let me finish. Please.” He nodded and she swallowed nervously. “I’ve never said that before. Not to anyone. And I probably shouldn’t be saying it to you now. It’s too soon. There are too many things we still need to work on. To get past. But I’m done hiding. And I’m done running, from my past and my feelings. I love you,” she repeated, finding it so much easier to say a second time. That it brought her such joy and relief, she said it a third time. “I love you. And if you can find it to forgive me for fucking up again, I promise to do my best to earn back your trust and to never, ever let my fears drive me away from you again.”

Now his eyes were suspiciously shiny, that haunted look in them replaced by something she knew was mirrored in her own.

Hope.

“Tabitha,” he murmured, his gaze skimming over her features before locking onto her eyes. “I—”

She pressed her fingertips to his mouth, stopping him. “Don’t say it back,” she whispered. “Not yet. Please. You told me so many times when we were together before, and I want to give this to you. Without expectation. Without you feeling obligated or pressured to respond. Please, just… let me love you for a little while before you start loving me back.”

“Too late,” he whispered, dropping his forehead to press against hers. “Way too late.”

And then he kissed her, softly. Sweetly.

His kiss telling her the words she wouldn’t let him say.

Her pulse skittered. Her heart tripped.

But it didn’t fall.

It soared.

He started to pull away, but she went onto her toes and pressed her mouth to his for another second. Then two. She wanted to stay there, right there, on that dark street where anyone driving by or looking out their window could see Mount Laurel’s assistant chief of police kissing a woman on the sidewalk. Where the crickets chirped and the mosquitoes buzzed and the air was thick and warm around them.

Where it felt like they were the only two people in the world. Like they were on the cusp of a new beginning. One where their pasts, their mistakes no longer existed.

Where they were safe.

But their pasts had shaped them into who they were now. And their mistakes were the only choices they could make at the time.

They’d make new ones. Small missteps and huge fuck ups.

They’d learn from them. They’d keep growing. And they’d work to fix them.

Together.

Finally breaking the kiss, she stepped back. “I need to tell Reed. And I’d really like you to be by my side while I do it. Will you come with me?”

He brought her hand to his mouth. Pressed a kiss to her palm. “Absolutely.”

She smiled. Kissed him again before linking her hand with his and letting him lead her to his car.

It was time to step into their future.

***

He had a sister.

Reed swiped up a handful of pebbles from one of the large potted plants lining the privacy fence. Stalked across the well-manicured lawn, Titus scampering at his heels.

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